No. 5 UC Irvine Defeats No. 9 UCLA

HOUSTON, Tex. ---Ben Orloff and Ryan Fisher drove in two runs apiece to lead No. 5 UC Irvine to a 7-4 victory over ninth-ranked UCLA Sunday at Minute Maid Park. The Anteaters concluded tournament action with a 2-1 record to improve to 5-2 overall. UCLA fell to 2-6 on the season.

Fisher also paced UCI with three hits while Orloff was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. DJ Crumlich scored three runs as the opportunistic Anteaters capitalized on five Bruin errors, four hit batsmen and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Sophomore Crosby Slaught pitched 4.2 strong innings, holding the Bruins scoreless while scattering five hits and striking out four to improve to 1-0. Senior Eric Pettis picked up his third save after pitching four innings and allowing two runs on seven hits.

Fisher doubled in the first run of the game in the bottom of the third to bring in Crumlich, who had been hit by the pitch to lead off the inning.

Two UCLA errors in the fifth led to three runs, giving UCI a 4-0 lead. A leadoff double by Crumlich followed by a fielding error on Eric Deragisch's sacrifice attempt put runners on first and third for Orloff, who belted a double to left. A throwing error by Bruin shortstop Chris Gallego on the relay to home put Orloff on third and Fisher glanced a 2-1 pitch off reliever Brendan Lafferty for an RBI hit.

Cody Decker put UCLA on the board in the top of the sixth with a single up the middle to score two runs.

However, the Anteaters widened the margin in the sixth, scoring three runs all with two outs. Following a throwing error by UCLA, Lafferty hit two consecutive batters with the pitch to load the bases for Fisher, whose grounder to third was mishandled for a run-scoring error. Francis Larson was the third batter to be hit by the pitch in the inning, pushing across Deragisch. Orloff would score on a wild pitch to cap the Anteater scoring.

The Bruins rallied for two runs in the ninth as Justin Uribe hit a one-out two-run home run off Pettis to close the deficit to 7-4. Haerther followed with a single to right but Pettis recorded the final two outs.

UC Irvine faces Loyola Marymount Tuesday (Mar. 3) in its home opener with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.